News

23/02/2017

Travel to the Future, Safely: Raising Awareness through a Virtual Experience

The Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez and BlueCross & BlueShield from Uruguay presented “Travel to the Future, Safely”, a virtual experience to raise awareness in adults about the risk of transporting children in cars lacking the appropriate restraint system.

Through this action, the Fundación wants to highlight the importance of children aged 6 - 12 years using a booster seat.

Even though the use of child restraint systems is mandatory by law for children traveling in private cars until they reach 1.5m tall, the Study of Observational Behavior in Road Safety conducted by FACTUM together with UNASEV and with the support of Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez, shows that 3 out of 4 children do not travel in a CRS; and only 3.2% of children aged 6 - 12 travel in said safety devices.

“Travel to the Future, Safely”, is an activity to be carried out in Montevideo Shopping in the first week of classes (March 6 - 12); adults will be able to experience a road crash through a virtual reality experience, and the consequences for the children of not using a booster seat in the event of a road crash. In the second part, they will be able to see how consequences change if children are safely restrained.

At the same time, children will enjoy a positive virtual experience in a booster seat, thus generating a positive reinforcement of the idea of traveling in this safety device.

“Travel to the Future, Safely” is an activity within the “Safely Back to School” campaign that Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez has been implementing since 2011. At first "Safely Back to School" aimed to promote School Transport best practices, helping introduce important changes, such as the renewal of the whole School Transport fleet in Montevideo, and the mandatory use of three-point seat belts and Child Restraint Systems for children under 3.

Since last year, the campaign also includes the promotion of child safety in all mobility types when traveling from home to school. Awareness activities have been implemented aiming at children in their role as pedestrians, or passengers in private vehicles, school transport, or on motorcycles.